Characterizing the drivers and dynamics of convergent genetic and phenotypic evolution

One of the central goals of biology is to explain how and why species evolve. In this research, the researchers study waterfowl to understand how adaptations related to diet have contributed to the evolution of this group of birds. Many waterfowl have independently evolved similar characteristics to support specific feeding strategies (e.g., filter feeding, underwater diving, grazing). These repeated evolutionary changes provide an ideal opportunity to study how organisms evolve, to illuminate the function of specific traits, to understand how genomic change connects to trait change, and to test theory about how species respond to ecological change. This project also highlights the importance of museum collections for supporting research and provides a tailored educational opportunity for college students to learn about the many ways museum collections can support cutting-edge science and biotechnology. This project combines analyses of body shape, genetics, and environmental conditions to understand how adaptive traits evolve and influence diversification over long evolutionary timescales. By studying species that independently evolved similar traits, the researchers will use statistical comparative methods to examine whether shifts into new feeding strategies allow lineages to expand into new ecological roles leading to the formation of new species; or whether dietary shifts lead to increased specialization making species more vulnerable to extinction under changing environmental conditions. This project will also determine if there are consistent patterns in how the skeleton adapts to support shifts in dietary ecology. Specifically, the researchers will combine evolutionary analyses with detailed measurements of bone shape variation to test if waterfowl species that adopt similar feeding strategies also evolve similar combinations of skeletal features. Since feeding behaviors often require multiple parts of the body to coordinate function, natural selection may favor integration among skeletal components. Therefore, the researcher will test if different bones evolve in concerted ways to support specific feeding strategies. The researchers will jointly analyze this skeletal shape data with comparative genomic data to investigate the genetic basis of these adaptations. The study will use methods that link evolutionary changes in traits to changes in DNA across species to test whether similar feeding-related traits that evolved independently in different waterfowl species are associated with similar genetic changes (e.g., mutations in protein-coding or regulatory DNA). Finally, the study will evaluate how environmental conditions ultimately shape the observed variation in traits and genomes. This project will combine evolutionary analyses, comparative genomic data and ecological niche models to test how environmental variables (e.g., temperature, habitat type, productivity) may drive adaptation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2545584 | Program: 01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Janet Buckner | Institution: University of Texas at Arlington, ARLINGTON, TX | Award Amount: $908,895 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2545584 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2545584.html